


The Stars over Leide

by Jerevinan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: IgNoct, M/M, Making Out, Sneaking Out, Stargazing, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 08:04:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12477040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerevinan/pseuds/Jerevinan
Summary: A nighttime drive to the countryside is vastly superior to entertaining guests at another boring Citadel party, especially when the prince shares a kiss under the stars with his favorite person.





	The Stars over Leide

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this fic from [this text post](http://her-minds-a-mess.tumblr.com/post/162560088408/fuck-parties-man-i-just-wanna-drive-to-the-lake), only this doesn't take place at a lake. I know there are tons of stargazing fics and whatnot, but have another. The idea came to me as soon as I saw that post. I couldn't help it.
> 
> Noct is 16, Ignis 18. That said, this is still an AU where they don't have to worry about daemons or the crystal, and Ignis and Noct can freely date because...I said so.

“They’re going to think I kidnapped you.”

Ignis had often been accused of absconding the prince from the Citadel, but never once was he ever guilty of it. He took the blame and consequences, and it had always been worth it for the adventures they had as children. But they were no longer children, and Ignis would be fortunate if he only lost his job for this stunt.

“I’ll tell them it was my idea,” said Noctis. “I made you do it.”

Ignis smiled. “You’ll do _what_ now?”

“Heyyyy. I did when we were younger, too, but no one listened to me.”

“I was told I should have known better—and they were right. I did. I certainly do now, yet here we are.” Ignis gestured widely at the expanse of road ahead of them. The bridge crossed over the ocean, the waters churning black under the pale moonlight. “We might not even get past the second city checkpoint if they recognize you.”

Noctis shimmied further into his seat and tugged his hood further over his mess of hair. “Maybe they won’t notice. Dad might not even find out I’m gone. Nyx has never once ratted me out.”

“No, but when they see you’re not at the party…” Noctis had never been a guest whose disappearance could go unnoticed, not even with his elusive tendencies. Even if Nyx stalled the inquiries by redirecting them with lies—saying Noctis had eaten something that didn’t agree with him and was holed up in the bathroom, or claiming he had snuck down to the kitchens to have an early dessert—it wouldn’t be long before the whole Citadel had formed a search party.

“I’ll deal with Dad’s calls when they come.”

“It wouldn’t be hard for him to tell we’re in car.” 

Noctis groaned and pulled out his phone, the screen illuminating the inside of Ignis’ car. “I wish he’d use text.”

“We’re at the checkpoint. Put your phone away and look less like someone trying to smuggle themselves out of the city.” Ignis slowed the car as he approached the line. There were two vehicles ahead of them—enough time to make Noctis presentable. “Take your hood down. Look relaxed—they can tell you’re there, and the more you try to hide it, the more you’ll draw attention.”

Noctis snorted in disbelief, but he tugged off his hood and combed his fingers through his hair.

Ignis leaned over Noctis and popped open the glove compartment. He fished out a glasses case—one of his spare pairs for emergencies. “Here, take these. Put them on, but try not to look through the lenses or you could get dizzy.”

Noctis slid them on. The change in Noctis’ appearance made Ignis laugh. 

“Do I look stupid?”

“No, but the difference is startling.”

Noctis altered his voice to imitate Ignis’ accent. “‘Be sure to let me do the talking, Noct.’”

“Well, that _is_ a good idea. No one needs to hear that terrible rendition of my voice. Please save yourself some embarrassment.”

Ignis eased the vehicle forward as the guard waved on the first; one more car and they would be under scrutiny. If the guard recognized Noctis, they would have the Crownsguard descend upon them. Ignis had a good idea of the expression Cor would wear when he dragged them back to the Citadel. The same one he had worn the night Ignis and Noctis had snuck out of their beds to visit the skywalk, only to run into Cor in the hallways. That frown when Cor fed them baby carrots as a snack in the Regalia once and later found one of the storage compartments stuffed with shriveled vegetables.

“Ignis, your eyesight really isn’t that bad.”

“Didn’t I say not to look through the lenses if you could help it?”

“A little hard not to.”

The guard waved on the car ahead of them, and Ignis ignored the nervous drumming in his chest as he pulled up to the station. The guard leaned in toward the car.

“Evening,” said the guard, tipping his hat at them. “Reason for leaving?”

“Stargazing,” said Ignis. 

“Needed to get away from Insomnia’s light pollution,” grumbled Noctis from the passenger side of the car.

“Only the two of you?”

Ignis nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“All right, have a good evening.” The guard straightened up and popped the button to the gate before he waved them through.

“Why do they do that?” asked Noctis after Ignis finished rolling the window back up. “They didn’t even ask for your registration or license.”

“They aren’t as lax about letting people back in as they are with letting them out. I’ll need my registration and license when we head back to Insomnia. As for why they do it, it’s mostly to slow the cars down and capture the occupants on camera in case they ever need to check who has left or entered the city.”

“Wait, we were filmed?!” Noctis slipped off the glasses and folded them back into their case. “Why even have me wear these?”

“To fool the guard, Noct—we only needed to get past him. As for the video, they only check it when they need evidence in criminal cases. Like kidnapping the prince and taking him stargazing.”

“Shit.” Noctis clipped shut the glove compartment and leaned back in his seat, kicking his feet up onto the dashboard. “Should we go back before they find out?”

“You could call your father and tell him what we’ve done so he doesn’t panic—after we’ve reached our destination. We wouldn’t head back right away, but it would ease his worries.”

Noctis threw Ignis a quick _are you kidding me_ look. “He’ll ground me until I’m eighteen.”

“Poor you,” said Ignis with no sympathy. “That sounds better than getting arrested, which is likely what they’ll do with me.”

“I won’t let that happen!” Noctis sank further into his seat and grumbled too low for Ignis to hear.

They drove the next mile in silence, the beams from the car’s headlights cutting through the darkness. Ignis focused on the road, but sometimes he glanced up at the distant horizon to stare at the stars over the mountains. Wildlife lurked on the side of the road, seldom crossing in front of them. Ignis slowed the car for a sabertusk before moving on.

“That’s Hammerhead there,” said Ignis, nodding in the distance at the yellow glow of civilization up the road. 

“How can you tell?” 

“We passed a road sign.” Ignis drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Noct, where do you want to stop?”

“I don’t know. Not too far? We’ve been gone for a while now.”

“Yes, it’s been over an hour since we left the Citadel.”

“Crap, we’re pretty far out in the country.” Noctis stretched out his arms and yawned. “What about there?” He pointed out a hilltop near Hammerhead. 

“As long as we aren’t attacked by wildlife.”

“We’ll be fine.”

Ignis parked at the side of the road. The two stepped out into the cool night air. A chorus was sung to them by thousands of insects as they hopped over the railing and crossed through the dusty terrain toward their goal. Noctis reached for his hand and curled his fingers around Ignis’.

Noctis paused halfway up the slope, his free hand on his hip. His gaze tilted upward. “I can’t believe how many stars you can see out here.”

“They’re beautiful.” In the city, there were only a handful of constellations Ignis could point out during the year. But out here, how could he begin to find the ones he and Noctis dreamed of spotting when they were children?

Ignis didn’t have their favorite book about stars available with him. It was likely buried under battered plushies and video game cases in the Citadel nursery closet. A relic of their childhood. He pulled out his phone and did a search for the most accessible mobile site for stargazing.

“What’s that?” Noctis peered over his shoulder.

“A guide for stargazing. Oh, the Jormungand constellation. I think we should be able to see it well from our location.” Ignis showed Noctis his screen for a few seconds. “Let me leave this up. We’ll take a better look once we reach our destination.”

Ignis pocketed his phone and led the trek up the hill with Noctis’ hand in his. Ignis shrugged off his jacket and set it over a rock, and they sat together and searched for the cluster of stars that was Jormungand. A breeze chilled Ignis, and he scooted closer to Noctis. If he had left his jacket on, the cold rock beneath his backside would have been too cold to sit comfortably, but his dress shirt wasn’t enough to protect him from even the gentlest of winds.

Noctis unzipped the front of his hoodie, slid his sleeve out, and offered half of it to Ignis. That helped.

“I like this arrangement,” said Ignis, slipping one of his arms through the free sleeve.

“Me too.” Noctis leaned his head against Ignis’ shoulder. “Let’s make up our own constellations. Where’s the one that looks like a prince snuggling up with his hot boyfriend?”

“Next to the one where a prince and his chamberlain kiss.” Ignis turned his head and lowered his lips to Noctis’. The kiss might have lasted longer if their phones hadn’t started going off at the same time. 

Ignis and Noctis groaned at the same time and leaned their foreheads together.

“Do you think they’ve figured out we’re missing?” said Ignis, pulling his out. “It’s Cor.”

“Mine’s Dad.”

“They know.”

“Probably.”

Ignis answered his first while Noctis let his ring. There was a pause as it went to voicemail, but then the ringtone went off again within a few seconds.

“Ignis, where are you?” No greeting or friendliness in Cor’s voice. “Are you with his Highness?”

“Yes, Noct is here.”

“And where is that?”

Noctis mouthed suggestions—all of them lies—but Ignis ignored him. All Cor had to do was track the phone call and find out their location to know they were fibbing.

“I’m in Leide, watching the stars with Noctis.”

“You need to head back. Now.”

Noctis groaned and answered his phone as it started going off for a third time. Ignis tried to listen into his conversation with Regis, but Cor interrupted his eavesdropping.

“Ignis?”

“We’ll head back soon.”

“Now.”

“Yes, sir.” Ignis hung up and turned to Noctis, who was still on his phone with Regis.

Noctis lowered his gaze. “I know, Dad. We’ll head home now.”

When the phone call wrapped up, Noctis sighed and flopped against Ignis’ side.

“I guess we have to go back,” said Noctis, making no effort to move. “Dad’s upset with me. I could’ve used the bathroom excuse if you hadn’t told Cor the truth.”

“He can track us, Noct. It’s useless. I’m told we should head back immediately to our doom.”

“We’ll go back. Slowly. We’re already in trouble, so what does it matter if we take another hour? ‘Cos I wanna finish that kiss.”

“I’d like that very much.” Ignis ran his fingers through Noctis’ hair before lowering his lips to Noctis’. He dismissed his fears to the stars. He loved his prince and would do anything to make him happy—even take the blame for leading him away from the Citadel. 

He wasn’t sorry at all to spend a night beneath the stars with Noctis. No moment with Noctis had ever been a waste. 

“Who needs parties when we can have this?” asked Ignis when he pulled away, the taste of Noctis lingering on his tongue. 

“I wouldn’t mind more parties, if this is how we spend them.”

Ignis leaned against Noctis. He would force him to his feet and back to the car in a little while, but he wasn’t ready for the night to end so soon when it had just begun.

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't feel like writing Cor and Regis chewing them out, but Ignis keeps his job and Noct is grounded until he's an adult, which Regis claims is the age of 25. Yay.


End file.
